Before the outbreak of World War One, Germany had increased the size of it's merchant fleet damatically. The Imperator class of three ships, Imperator, Vaterland and Bismarck ensured Germany's survival in the great Transatlantic race, but a smaller fleet of ships were also needed.
Norddeutscher Lloyd ordered two vessles, Columbus and Hindenburg, each to have a top sped of only 18 knots. Columbus was launched as the largest Norddeutscher Lloyd ship as then at 236 metres (774 feet) in Decmember 1913, but work was stopped on her fitting out due to the outbreak of WW1 in 1914, and for a long while, she was laid up at Danzig.
After the war, Columbus was seized by the British empire as repartition for so many of their liners lost in the war. Columbus was given to the White Star Line and was renamed Homeric, and seven years after her launch in 1920, she was completed and arrived for the Wjhite Star Line in 1922 where the official naming took place. Together with the Olympic and Majestic (another ex-German liner, the Bismarck), she helped patch together the sadly erased Olympic class. Unfortunatly though, she was un able to compete with the other two ships' 23 knot speed on the Transatlantic run. In 1923, she was taken out of service for a winter refit. Her coal engines were replaced with new oil ones and her speed slightly increased. Now at 19.5 knots, she was slightly faster than before, but still no match for her running mates.
In 1928, White Star's new 1000 foot long Oceanic, which was still being built, was set to take over from Homeric and on June 1st 1932, she made her last Atlantic voyage.
Her sailing days were not over yet though. White Star employed her for cruising. Because of her steadyness which drew so many passengers, she was perfect for the role.
In 1934, long time rivals Cunard and White Star merged to help fund the completion of the Queen Mary. In July 1935, Homeric had one of her last jobs, to attend King George V's Silver Jubilee fleet review, and only two months later, she was laid up. The 34,000 tonne ship was sold to a Scottish scrapping firm in 1936, and after 13 years of service was laid to rest. |
